Message ID | 20170301182235.19154-1-georgi.djakov@linaro.org |
---|---|
Headers | show |
Series | Introduce on-chip interconnect API | expand |
On Tue, Mar 14, 2017 at 05:41:54PM +0200, Georgi Djakov wrote: > On 03/03/2017 08:21 AM, Rob Herring wrote: > > On Wed, Mar 01, 2017 at 08:22:33PM +0200, Georgi Djakov wrote: > > > Modern SoCs have multiple processors and various dedicated cores (video, gpu, > > > graphics, modem). These cores are talking to each other and can generate a lot > > > of data flowing through the on-chip interconnects. These interconnect buses > > > could form different topologies such as crossbar, point to point buses, > > > hierarchical buses or use the network-on-chip concept. > > > > > > These buses have been sized usually to handle use cases with high data > > > throughput but it is not necessary all the time and consume a lot of power. > > > Furthermore, the priority between masters can vary depending on the running > > > use case like video playback or cpu intensive tasks. > > > > > > Having an API to control the requirement of the system in term of bandwidth > > > and QoS, so we can adapt the interconnect configuration to match those by > > > scaling the frequencies, setting link priority and tuning QoS parameters. > > > This configuration can be a static, one-time operation done at boot for some > > > platforms or a dynamic set of operations that happen at run-time. > > > > > > This patchset introduce a new API to get the requirement and configure the > > > interconnect buses across the entire chipset to fit with the current demand. > > > The API is NOT for changing the performance of the endpoint devices, but only > > > the interconnect path in between them. > > > > > > The API is using a consumer/provider-based model, where the providers are > > > the interconnect controllers and the consumers could be various drivers. > > > The consumers request interconnect resources (path) to an endpoint and set > > > the desired constraints on this data flow path. The provider(s) receive > > > requests from consumers and aggregate these requests for all master-slave > > > pairs on that path. Then the providers configure each participating in the > > > topology node according to the requested data flow path, physical links and > > > constraints. The topology could be complicated and multi-tiered and is SoC > > > specific. > > > > > > Below is a simplified diagram of a real-world SoC topology. The interconnect > > > providers are the memory front-end and the NoCs. > > > > > > +----------------+ +----------------+ > > > | HW Accelerator |--->| M NoC |<---------------+ > > > +----------------+ +----------------+ | > > > | | +------------+ > > > +-------------+ V +------+ | | > > > | +--------+ | PCIe | | | > > > | | Slaves | +------+ | | > > > | +--------+ | | C NoC | > > > V V | | > > > +------------------+ +------------------------+ | | +-----+ > > > | |-->| |-->| |-->| CPU | > > > | |-->| |<--| | +-----+ > > > | Memory | | S NoC | +------------+ > > > | |<--| |---------+ | > > > | |<--| |<------+ | | +--------+ > > > +------------------+ +------------------------+ | | +-->| Slaves | > > > ^ ^ ^ ^ | | +--------+ > > > | | | | | V > > > +-----+ | +-----+ +-----+ +---------+ +----------------+ +--------+ > > > | CPU | | | GPU | | DSP | | Masters |-->| P NoC |-->| Slaves | > > > +-----+ | +-----+ +-----+ +---------+ +----------------+ +--------+ > > > | > > > +-------+ > > > | Modem | > > > +-------+ > > > > > > This RFC does not implement all features but only main skeleton to check the > > > validity of the proposal. Currently it only works with device-tree and platform > > > devices. > > > > > > TODO: > > > * Constraints are currently stored in internal data structure. Should PM QoS > > > be used instead? > > > * Rework the framework to not depend on DT as frameworks cannot be tied > > > directly to firmware interfaces. Add support for ACPI? > > > > I would start without DT even. You can always have the data you need in > > the kernel. This will be more flexible as you're not defining an ABI as > > this evolves. I think it will take some time to have consensus on how to > > represent the bus master view of buses/interconnects (It's been > > attempted before). > > > > Rob > > > > Thanks for the comment and for discussing this off-line! As the main > concern here is to see a list of multiple platforms before we come > up with a common binding, i will convert this to initially use platform > data. Then later we will figure out what exactly to pull into DT. This is great stuff, I had whipped up something similar for a technology that some of our devices use called RFNoC but got stuck when looking at the bindings. I'll see if I can squeeze my stuff into the framework and give you some feedback. Cheers, Moritz